The installation of drywall, plasterboard, or sheetrock requires a number of specialized tools to mount and hang the heavy paper-wrapped gypsum sheets. The drywall sheet normally ranges from 4×8 foot sheets to 4×12 foot sheets that must be arranged and held along the support studs that form the frame of the wall or ceiling and then be screwed, nailed or otherwise attached using suitable fasteners to the support studs. Full sheets may be mounted vertically or preferably horizontally along the studs and be cut to the proper dimensions to form the walls and ceiling of a room. Commonly, the sheets are mounted to the studs in an offset alignment to prevent seams from one sheet aligning along the entire length or width of a room. Tape is applied along the seams and filler is used over screw holes to provide a smooth surface for the drywall panels to be ready for paint or plaster to finish off the room.
Tools of the prior art for the installation of the drywall sheets may be a blade or utility knife to cut the drywall sheets to the proper dimensions; a hammer to pound nails and/or demolish and remove older wall coverings; a hatchet to cut and remove older plaster and drywall from a room being remodeled; a screw and/or nail puller to pull out misaligned screws or remove screws left in the studs after removing the old drywall and wall coverings; a lift support that has an extended flat metallic strip with a tapered point on one end that may be inserted under a drywall sheet and then be pivoted on a base leg by stepping on the opposing end of the metallic strip to provide for a sheet to be lifted and held in place for attachment of the sheet to the studs; and/or a rasp that is also required to smooth edges of the drywall after cutting to have the drywall sheets cleanly fit together along a seam.
An installer must have all of these tools readily available to properly and efficiently install the drywall sheets and finish the walls and ceilings of a room. Having a number of different tools presents the common problems of hauling all of the right equipment to a job sight and retrieving all of the tools when a job is complete, so that no tools are inadvertently left and lost, a costly mistake for any professional. What is needed is a multi-purpose tool that is easy to use and carry and that performs most of common tasks in removing drywall from older walls and ceilings and installing new drywall to form walls within a building.